Music is I think affects most peoples lives, even those who say they don’t like it or even listen to it.

I must admit music was not something I felt interested in till about early 60’s. This may seem strange as my father loved Classical music, and often had classical music on on the radio, and he played the piano moderately well. I did have piano lesson when I was about 10, but I only stuck with it for a couple of years. I found “reading” music terrible difficult. I think it was around 1962 that “spark” of music started in me. I went to friends 21st birthday party. YES in those day 21 WAS the year of adulthood, not 18 as it is now! It was when the TWIST was all the rage, and at this party I learnt to do the twist! It was later that summer that we as a family went to that Vegetarian holiday in Swansea, Clyne Castle. There was a largish number of 16 to 30 year olds each week, and went round as a group. It was here that my interest in girls started getting stronger, though I was still shy of them. But pop music was one of the things that was played and talked about quite a bit and at the weekly Friday family parties we danced, ballroom & modern. After that holiday I started regularly listening to TOP OF THE POPS on Sundays. My favourite one at the time was TELSTAR by the Tornados. IT WAS GREAT I always turned the radio up full when it was at number one! It was at number one for 5 weeks. 1962 was one of the years dominated by Elvis Presley. He had 4 number ones for a total of 15 weeks. This was the year that BRITISH stars were actually beating American for the first time. Cliff Richard with “The Young Ones” was a 6 weeker, and his Shadows on their own with “Wonderful Land” stayed for 8 weeks. There was Frank Ifield’s “I’ll Remember you” and for 7 weeks was never forgotten!In June Mike Sarne issued his only number one “Come Outside” with a then totally unknown hesitant girl Wendy Richards. (Wendy is now known as the longest running star of East Enders!) Other number ones in 1962 were B Bumble & the stingers “Nut Rocker” (Tchaikowsky Classical The Nut Cracker” jazzed up, which purists hated!) and Ray Charles’ “I Can’t Stop Loving You”. Very little, in this year was heard from the Pop group that was to become the greatest ever, and unlikely to ever be equalled. Those who were dedicated pop followers might remember a song “Love Me Do” and an interview with a new group who recently decided to change their name from two words to one. Silver was dropped, leaving us with the BEATLES. This took place in the tail end of 1962. What was different was the fact that this group had written tons of their own songs, and by the end 1963 the whole world had heard of them, PLEASING people of all ages, With so much LOVE everyone wanted to Hold their Hands. So much so that the POSH Times reviewed their fourth single “I want To Hold Your Hand” in a serious and in a classical style. Till then the TIMES had turned a blind eye to pop music. From 1963 to 1970 the Beatles’s new releases usually went straight to number one, and from 1964 this was the case in America as well. In 1970 sadly they split up and went their own ways, their individual music was never the same as it was when they were together. The saddest case of all was that John Lennon was murdered in New York in 198? Also more recently in 200? We lost the wonderful George Harrison to cancer. In 1963 I had my first girl friend and she had me change my hair style to a “Beatles Mop” as I went off to Swansea University to earn my teaching diploma. I remember in my teaching practice school how one girl put on a “fainting” act in the school corridor for my benefit, because of my Beatles hair cut! When I left at the end of the year, the class that I had been most involved in gave me a leaving present of a wallet and a lucky sixpence (Which I still have and treasure— the headmaster told me that I was the first student teacher at his school to ever be given a leaving present! After they had given me the present the 13 year olds sang “ALL MY LOVING” to me, even though by that time I had reverted to my normal hair style! (My Fiancee had left me in Nov 63). My interest in the pop charts continued till about 1970s about the time the Beatles broke up. Pop music never seemed the same again, and to me seemed to get worse with time. Had the Beatles taken all the best tunes and songs? Of course there have been the odd great songs, but nothing quite like the 1960s. It wasn’t JUST the Beatles either, there were numerous pop

BEATLES

& music

The Beatles ARE the GREATEST EVER POP GROUP.

Their 'record' puts them FIRMLY amongst the GREATEST musicians, including the Classics